


Communication

by jenni3penny



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25691785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenni3penny/pseuds/jenni3penny
Summary: Gibbs pulls off a better surprise than Sloane - but only due to a severe lack of communication.
Relationships: Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane
Comments: 27
Kudos: 129





	Communication

**Author's Note:**

> "Acta non verba."  
> Deeds, not words.

She'd only really asked him for a ride because she hadn’t wanted to say goodbye at work (or, admittedly, at all). Not wanting to leave the Cooper in an airport parking lot for a week had been an easy but flimsy excuse. He'd probably seen right through her but she didn't really mind that so much.

It only was a five day conference but she could count the handful of days in the last year and a half (since their whiskey Christmas) that they hadn’t at least _seen_ each other. Five days apart seemed overboard in comparison. Between work and friendly poker games, making each other dinner or working on cases after hours? They had found the time to spend with each other and standing beside him at Dulles, now leaving the District for nearly a week… she suddenly realized how unconsciously co-dependent they had _both_ become of their friendship. And even if he didn’t outwardly seem to acknowledge it, the way he still had her carry on gripped in his left hand, refusing to relinquish it until necessary, said otherwise. His right hand's habit of guarding upward and over the tails of the scars that ran unevenly down her spine made it very obvious he didn’t want to walk away.

Jack turned her head and studied his profile as he glared at the security checkpoint for her gate. Time and age hadn't done nearly as much damage as they could have, though she noted the lines on his face, crimping in near his eyes. He squinted harder in the direction of security and she looked away from his eyes to the way he pursed his mouth closed. His face was so comfortingly familiar to her, even as he glowered, and she couldn't even tell him as much. She could never seem to just _get there_.

Maybe it was time to put up or shut up.

“End of the road, partner,” she deflected suddenly, motioning toward the gate, implying they had to part ways. Her hand stretched out, reaching for her bag as he turned his glance. He looked almost confused or conflicted in some way, lifting the bag into her reach while his other hand stroked up her back. He seemed to want to pause, fidgeting on the edge of something.

Gibbs shrugged as he turned them more together, eyes thinning as he swallowed whatever it was he wanted to say, biting it back. She took the bag and waited as his now empty hand caught her wrist. A beat later he leaned forward and put his mouth near hers, their cheeks together. "Won’t be too long, Jack."

She didn't want to leave him at all, no matter how long. But if she didn't force herself to go, right then, she would never go anywhere away from him again.

She turned her head and surprised the hell out of them both as she kissed him her goodbye.

***

He knew he should have told her from the moment he had booked the rental. Frankly, he wasn't sure how they'd gone a month without her finding out about it. But then, every time he had tried to tell her his mouth had dried up empty, lips parted but voice silent while watching her carry on within the confines of their friendship. He had bricked them into being 'just friends' and the one time he had managed to really kick a hole in that wall he hadn't been able to tell her he'd done it. Every time he had tried, things had just gone quiet, her unaware smile filling the silence. Time had started laughing in his face the nearer they had gotten to her departure and now he had only minutes to tell her what he had done.

He brushed his knuckles against his lips, half just to hide the grin that he simply could not contain after her impatient kiss. Otherwise it was just to rub along the same spot she had just grazed with her teeth, the skin damp and hot from the sweet assault of her mouth on his.

She'd tasted like the sugared up coffee he'd bought her on the way...

Gibbs watched her step toward the checkpoint, letting himself brush along his lips as she turned and continued backward.

He hadn't expected her to look back but, hell, he was happy she did. His fingers pressed up his jaw and he rubbed against it as he met her eyes and found the biggest and most beautiful grin. The heel of his hand went up his cheek, palm rounding the back of his neck as he chuckled and met her smile, feeling his ears flame hot as she bit her bottom lip between her teeth. She kept moving back toward security, a full laugh coming off her as she bumped into a teenage boy and stumbled still.

He was losing his chance to tell her but her laughter, her happiness… he didn't want to lose _that_ smile. Her secretive smirk was just as sexy as the kiss had been and it wasn’t until she finally turned and dropped her bag onto the TSA conveyor that reality really set in.

He was _completely_ out of time.

“Sloane,” he said, louder and more forcefully than he had expected, more urgent than he had meant. It snapped her head up instantly, eyes flicking brighter, amber and glassy as her body went still. He felt his mouth open and then shut again, teeth jamming together as his jaw went tight.

He didn’t even know what he’d been thinking. How the hell could he explain it now? Why hadn't he just told her?

The slow way she blinked and smiled, all of it stopped the air around him. She tipped her head and nothing else moved until she got jostled by another passenger, her body angling into the conveyor table.

“I’ll see you there.”

“What?” she tossed back, distracted as the security agent waved her down the line, encouraging her to keep going. “Gibbs, _what_?!"

He apologetically half shrugged, lifting his voice just loud enough, “I'll see ya soon.”

***

She asked if he'd meant it as soon as she'd gotten checked into the generic hotel, staring out at the parking lot view while he had huffed a half laugh over the cell line.

"Don't usually say things I don't mean, Sloane."

"You're coming here," she confirmed quietly, feeling her cheeks warm up despite the fact he couldn't see her. All of her got hot at the thought of him close again, the room’s temperature seeming to skyrocket.

She sent her tongue along her bottom lip as a reminder of how easily he had kissed her back, how nearly effortless it had been to get his arms curled completely around her. After his initial shock most of the kiss had been his to control, her tongue letting his do the teasing.

God, she wished she'd tried it sooner. He'd been more than receptive. She was eighty percent sure that while his mouth had been distracting her his hand had been pressed firmly against her ass.

"When I can, yeah." His voice had gone grainy, soft and rough and intimate in the way it did whenever they talked about delicately personal things. She loved it when all his grit and gruff went velvet. Same old Gibbs but a gentler delivery, one often reserved for her or the team, his 'kids'.

She only debated the demand for a moment before saying it. " _Soon_ , Gibbs."

The fact he laughed before he hung up held promise and she felt herself grinning as she turned and started to unpack. Check in for the conference was at four in the evening and she was going to need a drink first...

_And_ a phone call to Ellie.

***

“This may actually be the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen you do.”

Bishop had known the entire time, impatient for a month, poking and prodding at him whenever she'd had the chance. He'd needed her help finding a more private place to stay, something less 'hotel psychology conference' and far more 'cottage on the ocean'. She had come through brilliantly, finding a cottage on one of the small islands northeast of Portland. The place was small and old and likely haunted by some sad widow or drunken fisherman but the ocean was close and it was private, the pictures making it look quaint, sweet.

Jack was going to love it, even he had to admit that. “I told her I was coming."

It was true, it wasn't _entirely_ a surprise. Technically he had told her that he would meet her in Maine. He just hadn't told her exactly when he would join her. As far as she knew he was still trying to work his way out of a case that they couldn't seem to untangle.

“You said something ambiguous in an airport full of people,” Ellie argued, waving him off. “Did you give her any actual information? Your flight number? Or what time you would be getting there?”

He just shrugged again in non-answer, staring down the hoodie in his hand and feeling perplexed as to whether he should pack it or not. Ellie took it from him with a nod, eyes slim and a smile on her lips as she set it into the suitcase. She looked over the rest of what he’d packed, putting her hands to her hips as her head tipped in consideration.

“Suit jacket?” she asked. He recognized it as more a question for herself than one for him. His input really probably wasn't actually necessary, not right then.

“I don’t need supervision, ya know?”

"Wait, _no_ , that sweater she liked." He really wasn't necessary to her process. He was entirely aware of that.

Instead he watched her turn into his closet, uninvited but confident that he wasn't going to kick her out. Gibbs rolled his eyes, glaring back down over the half full suitcase. He didn't need much for three and a half days. It was already too full. "Do I need to be here for this?"

Ellie shot him an indulgent grin as she stepped back toward him, folding the high collared sweater into her chest as she moved back toward the bed. "I like that you're trying, Gibbs. She deserves it. _You_ deserve it."

"We gotta have this discussion?"

"No, we don't _gotta_ ," Bishop allowed, rolling her eyes at him. "But you do need to actually talk to _her_ at some point, Gibbs."

"We talk," he admitted more gently than Ellie likely expected. "We talk a lot."

And sometimes they didn't. Sometimes they didn't talk at all. And it worked for them.

"I tell her plenty."

When he looked up the blonde was grinning at him from across the bedroom, one of his sweaters hugged into her chest, half folded. Her eyebrows were raised, a dreamy and goofy smirk on her face that instantly put him on guard. She smiled even wider in response to his thinned eyes and half glare.

“What?” he asked.

Ellie finished folding the sweater, the smile going nowhere. “Need a ride to the airport?”

***

He called within moments of her leaving the conference room and she was subtly impressed by his timing. They had literally just ended the morning lectures for a lunch break. She hadn’t even said hello before he’d opened with, “Bishop doesn’t think I talk enough.”

“In general or in regards to a certain subject?” Jack leaned her way toward an opening in the crowd, ducking into a small cubby off to the side of the lobby area. She tucked into the privacy, visually browsing the pamphlet stall that took up most of the space.

“To you.”

She shrugged and slanted back against the wall, stuck somewhere between calling him out and feeling like a hypocrite, considering their (non) relationship. “We talk.”

“That’s what I told her,” he agreed, his huff supposedly indignant but she could hear his humor too.

“Though, I think she means that you don’t often _communicate_ with me. In which case… she’s not _entirely_ wrong.”

“I tell you - ”

“But you’re not the only one, honestly,” she admitted, a smile rising on her lips as she considered the fact that she had tried to kiss and run rather than just admitting to him that she would miss seeing and hearing and smelling him nearby. If he was willingly bringing up communication, though… well, she was willing to try. “I’ll miss you by the end of the day. I don’t like not seeing you.”

She had expected the silence and wasn’t disappointed, not at first. But then he spoke, warmly and with amusement in his tone. “Then look up.”

_What? Wait_ … “What?”

“I’m at the desk, trying to cancel your room. This place really the best the government could do?”

She ignored his jab, looking up and turning her head swiftly in the direction of the massive desk that ran one entire wall of the lobby. Her body went frozen still when she suddenly met his eyes, the shockingly bright blue of them stopping her breath. She hadn't expected him yet, wasn't entirely sure that she had really expected him at all. She felt emotions flicker over her face - panic, surprise, pleasure. He read them all and she watched him smirk once the last one brought a flush over her face.

His shoulders shifted with the deeply relieved breath he took and she felt herself match it, filling her lungs and grinning as she pushed off the wall. The way his eyes dropped down the length of her movement made her smile go wider and warmer.

“This why Ellie stopped answering my calls?” she asked, the phone still pressed to her ear as she stepped around other conference attendees.

“Said she couldn’t lie to you. You always know.” He just shrugged as she got closer, his smile getting more inviting and impish at once.

“She’s a terrible liar,” she whispered, letting the phone slip downward as she stepped closer, near enough that his hand could catch her sleeve and tuck her in tighter. “Hi.”

“I have somewhere better to stay.” He nodded, unable to look away from the smile she was flashing up at him. It bolstered her confidence, knowing his eyes were drawn to her mouth, seeing his own smile grow more intimate, though still cocky. “Go grab your gear and then we’ll check outta here.”

Jack just grinned, leaning forward, lifting her empty hand to press his hip as she took up more of his personal space. She wasn't letting him deflect this time, not considering what he had done to be closer to her. “This is what she means, ya know? You’re talking but you’re not - ”

His mouth stalled hers, the shushing sound he was making leaned into becoming an unexpected kiss. It wasn't rushed or forced, more an offer that she could accept or deny and there was no way in hell she was about to push him away.

Her whole body pressed up and she shifted their hips square on, surreptitiously dropping her phone into his jacket pocket so that both hands could reach for his face. All it really took for him to really kiss her was a soft sound from low in her throat and both hands against his cheeks. She felt him sink into it, his whole body slipping closer while he matched the sound she made and they ignored the full lobby at her back.

She let him kiss her as long as he wanted this time, her smile both instantaneous and a touch self conscious as his forehead rested against hers. She heard his breath slowly exhale, his right arm curled completely around her and secure.

“Don’t like not seeing you either, Sloane."

Ellie was just _wrong_ … He said plenty, even when he didn't really say much at all.

***

The drive had been nearly an hour, getting slower but more and more interesting the farther they got from the hotel parking lot. Once they had started crossing short bridges and seeing more water she had reached for his jeans and tugged at the fabric. He seemed more relaxed than he had when they’d started and she assumed they were getting closer, his need to pay close attention waning. Her fingers dug deeper into denim as she turned to look at him, noticing the smirk and how his eyes had gone blue bottle clear with the water glittering behind his profile.

“Sea glass,” she murmured to herself, jerking at his attention and pants at once.

“What?”

Jack leaned closer in the rented sedan, pressing up over the center console. “Are we staying on an island, Gibbs?”

He couldn’t keep from grinning. “You’ll see.”

***

He knew it was right when she got out of the car while he was still putting it in park. Gibbs chuckled, leaning back relaxed in the driver's seat and watching her step away from the car. She'd left the passenger door wide open, her purse on the floor. His eyes went down the length of her and back up as she stretched and rolled her shoulders, both her hands shaking her hair out as she crossed the quiet drive they'd turned onto before parking in front of the cottage.

He appreciated the fact she had changed into jeans and a sweater before they had ditched the conference. Gibbs shut off the car and watched her hair softly brush her shoulders as she let it fall loose again. She shot him back a quick grin before her steps got faster, as though she was involuntarily drawn to the water.

"Jack?"

She waved toward the break in the trees across from the cottage, the open ocean taunting them from just over a football field away. "I can smell the water."

He laughed quietly at her cute distraction, palms settling to the tops of his thighs. "You haven't even been inside yet."

She was already half down the drive and he watched her from the car with a smile.

"Gibbs, _come on_!"

***

The half jog to catch up with her brought their arms together, bumping into each other as they walked. There was a pull off down the drive and she was heading right for it, aiming toward a stone pathway that branched off.

Most of the shoreline was stacked with massive outcroppings or slants of large stone jutting up and down, but the path fed down a steady incline and he felt his knee protest the angle. Her hand catching into his sleeve distracted him though, long fingers curling on his arm. The scent of the water was strong and striking, cold water and minerals and he took a breath of it deep into his lungs.

“I could sleep right here,” she told him, voice airy and dreamy as her hand sloped down the inside of his arm. He flexed his fingers out instinctively, knowing the trajectory of her hand before she even traced her fingertips into the center of his palm. Her head dipped closer as their steps slowed and he squeezed at her fingers, encouraging her silently as the wind picked up. She barely breathed before sliding her fingers between his, her body leaning into his arm and lips pressing soundly on his cheek. He hadn't thought just holding her damn hand would get her so giddy but the brightness of her eyes when he turned his head had him speechless.

He had some work to do for this woman, just to show her how much more he was capable of, and starting with the sweet but not inexpensive cottage at their backs. “The hell you will. Coulda left you back there at Motel 6.”

“I didn’t mean to sound unappreciative. I’m just happy.” The words had been affectionately gentled by her movements, her cheek leaning onto his shoulder as she slanted them together. When he looked down over her he realized she was watching the water and pleasantly distracted, eyes following the encroaching waves.

His face lowered just enough for him to pick up the scent of her perfume and unfamiliar shampoo, his nose brushing her hair. "Ellie picked it out."

"Wasn't her idea, though, was it?" she guessed, letting her head relax against him. "It's perfect, Gibbs."

"Didn't like the idea of not seeing you."

She let go and gave him use of his right hand back but only so that she could instantly wedge herself against his side and squeeze her arms around him in appreciation. Gibbs grinned at how tightly she wrapped around his middle, letting his arm settle down around her. Her proximity brushed heat over his skin, warming him even as the water sent cooler air their way. He could almost feel the moisture cool his heated skin.

She snugged in tighter, looking up. "You realize that this means you'll be seeing way more of me?"

The purposely cheeky smirk he flashed down at her had him getting a fist to the ribs but her hand instantly soothed the spot as she laughed and shook her head. "I meant that you won't necessarily be able to get very far away from me here."

"The whole point was getting closer, Sloane," he offered, voice lowered and hands shifting to her hips. He felt her arch into the touch, her arms lifting up against his shoulders as she laughed silently to herself, shaking her head as he gave her a soft and conspiratorial wink. The way she looked at him went so lush and personal, lashes low over beautiful coppery eyes as she looked at his mouth and then met his glance. He lifted his right hand, touching her cheekbone right under her left eye, tracing down to her jaw.

She was gorgeous… But she seemed ten times more beautiful now that he could touch her. "Got three bedrooms if you want space. Thought maybe we could share, though."

Her eyes went tinted by sunlight and the reflection of the water as she lifted her chin, challenging him. "Can I leave the windows open all night so I can hear the ocean?"

Gibbs grinned openly, "Long as you're okay with the ocean hearing you all night."

Her eyes went wider but her smile was smug, lips curling in such a sultry way that he couldn't look anywhere else. "Who says it'll be me making noise?"

"I hear ya," he chuckled with a nod, lifting her chin with two fingertips. He laid his lips onto her forehead slowly, the paused kiss purposely holding them still. Once he rounded his forehead down against hers she let loose an audible sigh. It was adorable. She was adorable. "I'm gonna go unload the car. Don't be too long down here."

"Hey, Gibbs?" followed after him as he made his way up the bank, her cautious voice catching his shoulder and turning him. He blinked, kept his face blank, just waiting for her to continue. "This place, you being here? Says plenty, okay?"

He studied the way the beach curved around behind her, framing her. The water was bright with blues, whites and sunlight. The wind picked up behind her again, tweaking her hair and making him grin. "Okay."


End file.
